Chandigarh More trees, open spaces and grass facilitate easy movement of pollen in the air, giving rise to asthma attacks, say doctors

Did you know the green surroundings and clean environs of the City Beautiful that you are so proud of could do any harm to your health? It can, if you are asthmatic.

National Task Force consisting of the representatives of the relevant sectors will be set up on control of Asthma while a joint action plan would be drawn up for control of Asthma through a participatory process.

The ministries of health and environment recognising the increasing risk of asthma in the country has launched a joint asthma control programme.

The programme was launched at a ceremony held here Tuesday on the occasion of the World Asthma Day organised by the ministries and the Allergy and Asthma Institute, Pakistan.

Six in 10 U.S. residents -- more than 186 million people -- live in areas with dangerous levels of air pollution, the American Lung Association reported on Wednesday.

The air in many U.S. cities became dirtier last year, the association said in its annual "State of the Air" report.

The risk of asthma increases with a relatively low intake of vitamins A and C in daily diet, according to a new study.

People with low levels of vitamin A and C in their diet were more likely to suffer from asthma, the University of Nottingham study revealed. So a diet rich in antioxidants will help prevent chances of people suffering from asthma.

Over 8 lakh city dwellers suffer from asthmatic problem due to various environmental pollutions, particularly dust and toxic metals in the air, experts said at a roundtable here yesterday.

They said the main causes of asthma are air pollution, unventilated living conditions, both at home and workplaces, unplanned industrialization, dense population and living in slums.

Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood, one that strikes the poor disproportionately. Up to one-third of children living in inner-city public housing have allergic asthma, in which a specific allergen sets off a cascade of events that cause characteristic inflammation, airway constriction and wheezing.

Air pollution in capital city Dhaka raised higher than Mexico and Mumbai killing thousands of people prematurely each year, health experts say.

According to the Department of Environment (DoE) the density of airborne particulate matter (PM) reaches 463 micrograms per cubic metre (mcm) in the city during December-March period - the highest level in the world.